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50 Times People Experienced A Serious Case Of Pareidolia And Documented It Online
We’ve all been there. You see a lone trash bag on the corner of a street, waiting for the salvation of being taken out of sight, and for a moment, you’re like 99.9% sure it’s a dog. In fact, a dark-haired Australian shepherd. It’s still a bag, but you’d bet on your soul it’s not.
First, you’re not going mad and second, the chances are, you have just experienced a phenomenon known as pareidolia. It happens when you see inanimate objects with faces or bearing some human-like appearance. And it’s something our crazy brains were wired to do and that’s looking for familiarity in virtually everything, even the most random and strange stuff.
So fasten your seatbelt, we’ve got you a fresh batch of hand-selected examples of pareidolia as compiled by Bored Panda to feast your eyes on. Psst! Check out more of this amusing stuff in our previous posts here, here, and here.
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Sometimes Mother Nature Can Be Creepy (Chesaning, Mi)
I Found A Mushroom That Looks Like A Little Owl
Previously, Bored Panda spoke with professor Kang Lee from the University of Toronto about seeing objects with faces, a phenomenon which has a perfectly scientific explanation.
"Pareidolia illustrates the interaction between the visual cortex and the frontal cortex of the human brain. It suggests that our brain is highly sensitive and expecting to encounter and process some special classes of objects in our environment because they are biological and socially important to our adaptions to the environment," Professor Lee explained to us.
In fact, our inner intention to detect things and patterns familiar to us is so strong that we often see them where no such thing could possibly exist. And we’re aware of it! "However, for some people, their frontal cortex’s expectation for certain objects becomes so high that they see faces in many situations where no faces exist."
I Have This Trunk Knot On A Tree In My Backyard That I Always Thought Looked Like A Regency Era Couple Kissing. Today, I Decided To Bring Them To Life
Is It A Man Running Or?
Although seeing things where they don’t exist, and especially human faces, may sound and feel like you’re going mad, Professor Lee assured us the phenomenon is totally normal and happens to many of us.
“There is nothing wrong with these individuals," he stressed. Turns out, “Pareidolia is different from paranoia or delusion or abnormal vision of individuals with psychosis.”
In fact, “a recent study shows that those people with pareidolia tend to be more creative,” the professor added. Also, some people can be more prone to seeing things than others, like those who are very religious, since they “may be able to see religious icons in non-face objects as well."
Cat Is Surprised By The Atomic Explosion
Turtle With A Reflection That Resembles A Face Of A Man
The Way My Ice Pack Is Defrosting Looks Like A Polar Bear
This Rock That Looks Like A Severed Head
The Pattern On My Dogs Chest Looks Like A Cat Mid Sneeze
This Jalapeño Looks Like A T-Rex
Donald Trump Found In A Dogs Ear
My Brain MRI Looks Like The Grinch
Woke Up And Discovered My Wife Moved Our Coat Stand Yesterday
Cat Formed By Cracks Above My Light Switch
My Potato Looks Like It's Trying To Escape Itself
“If someone reports seeing Jesus in a piece of toast, you’d think they must be nuts,” professor Lee previously told BBC Future. “But it’s very pervasive. We are primed to see faces in every corner of the visual world.” According to him, our imaginations exert a very powerful influence over our perceptions.
You Know You're In Trouble, When Your Mom Strikes This Pose
This Blob Of Hand Cream I Squeezed On My Hand Looks Like A Kitten
Whilst Walking Into A Kitchen I Saw This Guy
Sun's Reflection On My Drinking Glass Creates Bart Simpson’s Skull
Release Me
Another theory about why we see faces in random objects and places has to do with the belief that we developed pareidolia as a survival mechanism. For example, Carl Sagan, an astronomer, suggests that pareidolia helps us recognize faces from a far distance and determine whether it’s the enemy or an ally we’re looking at.
He also believes that the feature was more prominent in babies. “Those infants who a million years ago were unable to recognize a face smiled back less, were less likely to win the hearts of their parents, and less likely to prosper." Some even claim that therefore, this survival allowed pareidolia to go through generations.
Kawaii Gourd
There’s A Sid On My Sister’s Floor
Miss Piggy
I Thought This Gourd Looked Like A Snail
Godzilla Cloud
Best Eggplant Ever
This Tree Looks Like Swamp Thing
just imagine looking out of the window at night and seeing that monster...
The Piece Of Paper That Is Frozen To The Back Of My Fridge Looks Like A Wiener Dog
Accidentally Created A Porcupine By Pouring Instant Coffee Over An Americano
After My 17th Near-Heart-Attack, I Realized- I Really Need To Move My Lamp
Happy Water Buffalo I Found
Oh The Horrors
This Snowman Air Bubble In My Soy Sauce Packet
Butterfly Looks Like An Animated Fox
This Knot In The Wood Looks Like A Frog
Dog In A Dog
Recently Made Cupcakes And This Piece Of Snail-Looking Burnt Dough Scared The Hell Out Of Me
5 Minutes Into Photosynthesis And Chill
Ice Ghost Inside My Water Bottle
This Grumpy Pie
Blanket In My Dog's Bed Looks Like A Dog
My Blankets
This Purple Carrot Looks Like A Bartender Ready To Take Your Drink Order And Listen To Your Troubles
This Chip In My Window Looks A Bit Like A Cat
This Rock That Looks Like A Hippopotamus
My Stapler And I Feel Similarly About Conference Calls
This Sweet Potato Flower Looks Like Little Groot Heads
The Way This Knot In My Wall Looks Like A Dog
A Girl In My Class Looks Like A Dog In This Angle
My Bacon Grease Looks Like Lionel Richie
My Dog Has A Cat Singing Opera Following Him All The Time
Took A Picture Of My Daughter Lighting A Campfire - It Appears She Is Summoning The Spirit Of A Unicorn
This Curtain Pattern Looks Like Squidward
A Bear In The Wood
Two Sides Of The Same Rock Found At The Beach
This Orthodontist Chair That Looks Like A LEGO Man Sitting
House Kinda Looks Like It's Giving The Finger
The Back Of This Speaker
My Sweet Potato Looks Like A Sea Lion
Grains On This Wood Plank Resemble An Ostrich
Anyone Else See A Bear?
There's An Elizabethan Tomato Growing In My Garden
My Homemade Orange Juice Smiled Back At Me This Morning
Happy Spaghetti Emergency
This Birch Tree In My Neighborhood Looks Like An Annoyed Cyclops
That Folded Dog Food Bag On The Top Of The Shelf Looks Like A Dog From This Angle
The Thorax Of This Bug Looks Like A Cat With Sunglasses
This Jalapeno Has Been Training Really Hard
It Looks Like There's A Dog Trapped In This Tree
What sound does a dog in a tree make........Bark. I will let myself out.
Possibly The World's Best "Have I Found A Baby Dinosaur?" Looking Rock I Have Ever Seen
My Grass Compost Pile Looks Like A Grass-Covered Gorilla
My Nail Polish Chipped Into The Profile Of A Man
My Morning Coffee Had A Flying Unicorn In It
Oh My God! They Killed Kenny! You Bastards
My Coiled-Up Headphones Look Like The Cookie-Monster
These Flowers Look Like They Are Fleeing The Flowerpot While Screaming
These are pansies, apparent some people can see the grumpy face, others can't. Ie I can, but my mum doesn't see them as faces
My Dog's Ear Appears To Have A Face In It
"The Lone Man On The Mountain" A Natural Shadow On Lone Peak In Big Sky, Montana
My Parents’ Cactus Looks Like A Person Waving
Cloud Duck Over The Skies Of Sofia, Bulgaria
The Way This Tomato From My Garden Looks Like A Giant Ant Is Eating It
Fat Princess Leia Chair Wants A Kiss
This Chocolate That Froze Looks Like A Man Surfing In My Ice Cream
I Found A Rock That Looks Like A Bullfrog (New Boston, Nh)
This Tomato Looks Like A Duck
I Was Groot
Turned The Light On And Noticed Someone Has Been Watching Me
This Leaf I Found That Looks Like A 1800s Portrait Of A Man With A Beard
This Morning’s Coffee Bloom Looked Like A Surprised Bear
Was Portioning Out Some Sour Patches When The Ultimate Sour Patch Boss Fell Out
Having A "Camp Fire" In The Back Yard And This Looks Like A Dragon. A Fire Dragon
Flat Dog
My Dad’s Cactus Looks Like A Boxer
Looks Like You're Trying To Shower
A Rock That Looks Like An Old Man
This Tar Stain On A Curb Kinda Looks Like A Skateboarder Doing A Trick
My Bacon Looks Like A Seahorse
This Stain On My Espresso Machine Looks Like Jason Voorhees
The Scratch On My Mom's Car Looks Like 4 People On A Canoe
Spooky Rock
the amount of insects and arachnids that live in there are the real scary thing 😬 🕷🕸
Feed Meeeeee
The Paint In My Paint Tray Looks Like A Crow
The Way My Coffee Spilled This Morning Looks Like A Duck
A Wild Baby Yoda Appears
This Looks Like Mike Wazowski
My Friend’s Glass Produce A Shadow Face
These Hanging Gloves In London Look Like Sherlock Holmes
This Dog Shadow Looks Like Donald Trump
This Workout Machine Seems Pretty Angry
It Looks Exactly Like Larry Bird
The Face In This Tree
This Load Of Bread I Saw At My Local Supermarket. I Think It Saw Me First
I Don't Think I Can Eat This Potato
My Lamp Looks Like A Well-Endowed Easter Island Statue Wearing A Huge Hat
Did u know the statues have bodies, they are just under built up dirt with the heads sticking out
Incredible Face My Father Shot In The Clouds
My Neighbor Did Some Yard Work This Weekend
This Stop Light Flipping Me Off
You Ever Mess Up Burgers So Bad That Even Your Grill Is Surprised?
The Bottom Of My Shoes Have Worn Down And Revealed Little Smiley Faces
My Pants Ripped Today
This Leaf That Looks Like A Mouse
I Noticed My Shower Looks Like Its Screaming In Horror
This Cloud That Looks Like A Guy Eating
My Box Of Laundry Cast A Shadow That Looks Like An Old Man
Does It Look Like A Cheetah Coming Out Of Pipe In The Water (The White Areas)
One Of The Old, Painted-Smudged, Scuffed Hinges On A Laundry Room Cupboard In My Parents’ Basement Looks Like An Old Greek God
My Bite Of Oreo Cheesecake Sort Of Looks Like A Fat Dog
This Marshmallow I Cooked Over The Fire Looks Like Elvis Presley
This Gigantic Potato That Looks Like Sid From Ice Age
Found This Old Happy Face In My Margarine
This Rock My Son Found At The Beach Looks Like A Side Profile Of A Human Face
My Lamp Shadow Looks Like Mike From Monsters
Hitler In My Omelet
The Shadow Made By Fused Gummy Bears In My Bag Looks Like The Side Profile Of A Person
This Cup-Holder Kind Of Looks Like Clippy As An Adult
Since You Guys Liked The Cartoon Dog, Here’s His Dead Brother
This Slice Of Bread Looks Like Breasts In A Bra
Woke Up To My Clothes Projecting A Human Profile On The Wall
My Bandaid Looks Like A Flesh-Coloured Batman
My Baby Carrot With Hummus Kinda Looks Like The President Trump
My Dog’s Neck Looks Like Squidward With Some Sunscreen On His Nose
I just love these. I wonder how I'd do on a Rorschach test? Never mind I already know I'm a bit looney!
fun fact: in the Rorschach test whatever it is that you see doesn't matter all that much. There's a lot more to it than that.
Load More Replies...Two questions: why is Trumps face so easy to see in random objects? Is it because he wants to haunt us? That's my guess. Second question is what the heck are they eating in #102?!
Reminds me of this bagel I had for lunch yesterday. It was smiling at me. IMG_0358-6...36fe31.jpg
Wish I could up.old pictures from my iPad. I have one of a potato I named D**k Tater.
I just love these. I wonder how I'd do on a Rorschach test? Never mind I already know I'm a bit looney!
fun fact: in the Rorschach test whatever it is that you see doesn't matter all that much. There's a lot more to it than that.
Load More Replies...Two questions: why is Trumps face so easy to see in random objects? Is it because he wants to haunt us? That's my guess. Second question is what the heck are they eating in #102?!
Reminds me of this bagel I had for lunch yesterday. It was smiling at me. IMG_0358-6...36fe31.jpg
Wish I could up.old pictures from my iPad. I have one of a potato I named D**k Tater.